New Technologies
and Business
Practices to Build
Your Brand.
Welcome to TechColumbus

What is TechColumbus?
A Catalyst for Tech-Based Business Growth in Central Ohio
Help Companies Connect, Learn and Grow
– Member services, networking, outreach, and advocacy
– IT services – Platform Lab
– Creating a vibrant tech community
Helping Create and Launch New Companies
– World Class Business Incubator
– TechStart = entrepreneurship on steroids
Helping Attract Companies and Talent
– The TechCorridor
– Dublin, New Albany, UA, Rickenbacker

Our Promise
Growth is the underlying driver of
everything we do. We help start-ups grow their
concepts, their maturity, their abilities, and their
ambitions. We help established companies grow
their business, their capabilities, their connections,
and their knowledge. And we help individuals
grow their careers, their expertise, their networks,
and their confidence. Every day, TechColumbus
provides the people, information, and
funding critical to a thriving innovation
economy.

Upcoming Events
August 5: Networking Mixer
New Albany Business Development Center Open House
August 13: e Track Luncheon
When to Jump - Real Life Advice on Becoming a Full Time Entrepreneur
August 14: Leadership Luncheon
Energy, the Future and Smart Grid
with AEP, Duke Energy and the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio
August 20: Business Breakfast
Developing Transformational Leadership Techniques

What is your brand?
“A brand is the sum of the good, the bad, the ugly, and the off-strategy. It is
defined by your best product as well as your worst product. It is defined by
award-winning advertising as well as the god-awful ads that slipped through
the cracks, got approved, and, not surprisingly, slipped into oblivion. It is
defined by the accomplishments of your best employee—the shining star in the
company who can do no wrong—as well as the mishaps of the worst hire you
ever made.
It is also defined by your receptionist and the music your customers are
subjected to when placed on hold. For every grand and finely worded
statement by the CEO, the brand is also defined by derisory consumer
comments overheard in a hallway, or in a chat room on the Internet. Brands
are sponges for content, for images, for fleeting feelings.
They become psychological concepts held in the minds of the public, where
they may stay forever. As such you can’t entirely control a brand. At best you
can only guide and influence it.”
Scott Bedbury, A N ew Brand W orld

Our Panelists
Todd Swickard – CEO, People to My Site
Jeff Hampel – President, MediaPlace
Principal, 361 Media.
Boston05
Bill Balderaz – President, Webbed Marketing
Dale Edman – Director, Account Strategy for
Resource Interactive

Todd Swickard
PeopleToMySite.com

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
A GUIDE TO USING IT SUCCESSFULLY
• Where you want to be
• Why you want to be there
• What to do/avoid when you get there

WHERE YOU WANT TO BE
THE SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKS
1. LinkedIn
2. Facebook
3. Twitter
4. MySpace

WHY YOU WANT TO BE HERE
L INKED I N
• Some statistics on use:
– Site traffic grew 153%
in 2008 and 319% since
2007
– 30.1 million users, 11.9
million monthly visitors
– Users accept 83% of
referrals
– Most members are
30-55
– 97% of users join based
on invitations from
existing members

WHAT TO DO / AVOID THERE
L INKED I N
• Maintain your rolodex –
keep in touch with potential
clients as they switch jobs
• Improve your site’s SEO
• Gauge health of partner companies
• Track competitors, employees
• Join groups for networking opportunities
• Avoid connecting with just anyone
• Only recommend those you truly trust

WHY YOU WANT TO BE HERE
FACEBOOK
• Some statistics on use:
– Site membership grew
85% in 2008
– Over 150 million users,
54.5M unique
visitors/month
– Less than 20% of users are
under 18
– 85% of users are 18-54
– Clean layout, easy to find
information

WHAT TO DO / AVOID THERE
FACEBOOK
• Maintain connections
• Link to your blog
• Improve your site’s SEO
• Track employees
• Avoid posting anything you wouldn’t want to see in a
new business meeting
• Ensure your friends can make common sense
judgments, or unfriend them

WHY YOU WANT TO BE HERE
TWITTER
• Some statistics on use:
– Site membership grew
752% in 2008
– 4.43M unique
visitors/month
– 78% of users are 18-49
– Mix of demographics
– Good place to check the
climate and manage
customer relations Source: http://www.quantcast.com/twitter.com#summary

WHAT TO DO / AVOID THERE
TWITTER
• Keep an ear to what
people are saying about
your business
• Link to your blog
• Improve your site’s SEO
• Check the competition
• Check in 1x/week
• Tweet about promotions
• Don’t auto-follow
• Build a following when you have time – follow your
competitors’ followers

WHY YOU WANT TO BE HERE
MY SPACE
• Cluttered site, good
for specific industries:
– Personal trainers
– Musicians
• Some statistics on use:
– 110M monthly active users,
185M registered users
– Skews young:
45% of users are 18-34
29% of users are 12-17
– More than 8M artists and bands
– 53% of users have no college
education

WHAT TO DO / AVOID THERE
MY SPACE
• Check in 1x/wk
• Allow your page
to be searchable
• Post videos and other
new media here
• Don’t publish information you wouldn’t want seen at
a new business meeting
• Listen to visitor feedback – but don’t respond to
everything

Everything You Do in Marketing, Affects and
Addresses Your Brand
 Direct Marketing
 Use – Primarily lead generation…But it is you to the recipient!
 Examples - Direct mail, email marketing
 Print Advertising
 Use – Primarily branding and awareness; secondarily lead gen
 Examples – Display ad, tip-on, belly band, insert, advertorial, etc
 Traditional Online Advertising
 Use – Mainly lead generation; more and more branding and awareness
 Examples – Sponsorships, Newsletters, textlinks, white paper/ebook/other asset marketing
 Corporate Sponsorships
 Use – Branding, awareness and lead generation
 Examples – Sports, Events, Site (Arena), Celebrity, Organizations
 SEO/M
 Use – Combination of lead gen, branding and awareness
 Examples – Natural and Paid
 Social Media
 Use – Branding, awareness, limited lead gen … customer service
 Examples – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube…..Viral Marketing

Some Answers are Better Than Others
Things to Consider:
 Need Clear Quantifiable Goals - Sales, Marketing, PR …
 Budgets (Marketing + Customer Service + PR ?)
 ROI Requirements – Branding “Expense” Still has to Pay the
Bills…on Some Level.
 Competitive Branding Review
 Identify What Your Customers Think – Survey Says?....
 Specifics on Who the Target Audience Is…and Isn’t
 Review Current Efforts
› Is your SEO where you need it?
› What obstacles are sales efforts encountering with regard to brand?
› Are there company image issues to address?

 Define what type of Business Solution(s) you need
(from previous slide)…and in what order.
 Ex. Sales Growth, Brand Recognition, Awareness, Image …
 Build a Team of Collaborative Experts
 Consider Internal and External Options
 Develop The Plan and Implement
 Each Media Option Needs to be Used Properly
 Ex. Online Outlets - Fit: Demographic/Psychographic, Reach, Frequency, Timing,
Audience Context…
 Test, Measure & Refine…Measure & Refine….
 Insist on Accountability from Your Team

Thank you!
Jeff Hampel
MediaPlace
5995 Wilcox Place
Suite A
Dublin, Ohio 43016
614-793-8805
jhampel@mediaplacehome.com

New Practices For Building Your
Brand Online
•Four Truths In the Online World

Truth #1 Consumers define your brand
• Consumers produce more content, are faster, less restricted
and influence other consumers (and search engines). If
consumers say you sell cheap textbooks, that’s what you sell.
Slide 26

Internet Marketing With Real Results?
Slide 27

Truth #2: Your web site is not the first
impression you make online
• Your most loyal customers are not on your web site every day,
but they may be on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn every day.
• And they use Google every day
• Bloggers, reporters, analysts, competitors and consumers are
all building content about your brand in highly visible places
• 40% of online queries are “navigational”
Slide 28

Who is the authority on information about
GM?
Slide 29

Truth #3: You should focus on
conversations, not monologues
• Consumers expect answers, fast
• They don’t call customer service, they Tweet it!
• Questions about hours, locations, suggestions for products and
services are plentiful
Slide 30

They don’t want to listen, they want to talk
Slide 31

Brands using social media to
communicate
Slide 32

Brands engaging in real time conversation
• @bbalderaz I will check out the article! Thanks for finding us on
Twitter & FB! Let us know if you stay with us again!7:57 AM Jun
13th from TweetGrid in reply to bbalderaz
Slide 33

Truth #4: Think about where consumer opinions
are formed (and The Serenity Prayer)
• Search
• Advertising
• Social Media
Slide 34

The Serenity Prayer
• Accept the things you cannot change
• Google your name, you will see some things you don’t like
• Competitors will advertise on your products and company
keywords
• Consumers and the media will write about what ever they want
Slide 35

Accept the things you cannot change
Slide 36

The Serenity Prayer
• Change the things you can
• Optimize your site for brand, products and services
• Advertising on your branded terms
• Engage consumers and the media in conversations
Slide 37

Take-aways
• Branding still matters, but it is not formed in your board room,
it’s formed by consumers
• View your brand as your consumers view it
• Join conversations
• Focus on what you can influence
Slide 38

THE DIGITAL CHANNEL:
Retail’s new growth engine
PRESENTED BY:
Dale Edman
Director of Account Strategy
RESOURCE INTERACTIVE

MISCONCEPTION #1
Web sales remain too
small to matter.

FACT:
The web remains the
fastest-growing channel
and is responsible for
disproportionate growth.

Retail Growth is Relatively Flat Overall
2.6%
TOTAL SALES (trillions)
Total Retail CAGR is projected to be 2.6% from 2007-2012
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Source: Forrester Research, January 2008

Online Growing 5x Faster than Offline
14%
TOTAL SALES (trillions)
ONLINE Retail CAGR is projected to be 14% from 2007-2012
200 200 200 201 201 201
7 8 9 0 1 2
Source: Forrester Research, January 2008

2007: Web Fueled Majority of Growth For
Some Major Retailers
Web as a % of total
Web as a % of total sales
SALES GROWTH
10%
32%
90% 68%
29% 42%
71% 58%
Source: Internet Retailer, April 2008

2012: Web Significant Growth Contributor
Web as a % of total
Web as a % of total sales
SALES GROWTH
7%*
11%*
ONLINE
ONLINE
43%
ONLINE
57%
89%
93% OFFLINE
OFFLINE
*These %s are deflated by large categories
with extremely low online penetration—such
as autos and food
Source: Forrester US eCommerce Forecast: 2008-2012

MISCONCEPTION #2
The web is primarily an
e-commerce channel.

FACT:
The web uniquely catalyzes
and impacts cross-channel
shopping.

The Web is Projected to Influence 50%
of Offline Sales by 2012
TOTAL SALES (trillions)
Offline
Sales
Total
Online
50% Impact
48%
45% 47%
Offline
42% Sales
38% Influenced
by Online
Online
Sales
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Jupiter: US Online Retail Forecast, 2007 - 2012

Web Improves Total Customer Experience
The web should be the hub for engagement and transactions
WEB
ENABLE
ADVOCACY &
AMPLIFICATION
Web-and-Spoke Model
Source: Resource Interactive 2002, rev 2008

MISPERCEPTION #3
Stores are the most
important channel for
purchasing.

FACT:
The web has begun to rival
stores for purchase decision-
making.

Web Rivaling Offline in Importance
Home electronics buyers rated stores and online equally
Q: How important were each in helping you
make your decision on what to
purchase?
7% said that online was “absolutely
essential” when making an apparel
purchase decision
Source: Resource Interactive Survey, August 2008

AWARENESS CONSIDERATION SELECTION PURCHASE LOYALTY
Mass Friends & In Store In Store
Media Neighbors Staff Messaging
message
Impact of traditional brand communications at the onset
of the consumer purchase journey is decreasing

consumer journey digital strategy
Facebook Event
Youtube
Myspace
fan page
Facebook
fan page
Display
Store
Ad
Mobile visit
Ratings
Search
&
result
reviews
VS
Direct PINK web
Mail web site site
blog

Thank you
Please recycle your nametag.
Please fill out the survey